Revolut has appointed Frédéric Oudéa, the former chief executive of Société Générale, as chairman of its Western Europe hub in Paris, as the UK-based fintech deepens its push into France.
Oudéa, who led Société Générale for 15 years until 2023, will play a central role in Revolut’s efforts to secure a French banking licence and expand operations across the region. He also chairs the board of Sanofi and sits on several European advisory bodies.
“I’m a firm believer that Revolut is at the forefront of European retail banking, and it’s for that reason I’m excited to join the team at a critical point in the journey towards becoming a fully-fledged banking institution,” Oudéa said in a statement, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The appointment comes after Revolut pledged in May to invest €1 billion over three years in France, establishing Paris as its Western Europe base. The company has said the licence would allow it to offer a broader range of regulated banking services, from consumer lending to deposit protection.
Revolut, which recently raised its valuation to about USD 75 billion in a secondary share sale, is seeking to translate rapid growth into regulatory recognition and a sustainable foothold in Europe’s largest markets. In August, German online bank N26 appointed Andreas Dombret, a former Bundesbank board member, as chairman of its supervisory board.
